Ace Metrix Reveals How and When Entertainment Co-Branding Works – For Viewers AND Brands

Ace Metrix, the leader in measuring the impact of video advertising, today released a report on the effects of advertisers co-branding with big blockbuster movies. Analysis revealed that this strategy draws attention to the brand ads before and during a blockbuster’s time in theater, with all four franchises evaluated contributing to high attention scores for their tie-in ads. However, it doesn’t always result in general likeability for an ad or brand as tie-in ads are sometimes polarizing, depending on the scope of the audience interested in the films. Before just any brand sets out to co-brand with a big blockbuster, it is noted that it takes careful consideration and creative smarts to make a relevant and believable connection between the movie/characters and the brand.

In the report, Ace Metrix analyzed viewer response to four recent blockbusters with automotive tie-ins: “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “The Fate of the Furious” and “Cars 3.” The value of a tie-in cannot be measured by box office pull alone. Both the movie and the tie-in ads’ success are a function of their respective audiences. The polarity rank indicated that the Cars franchise has broader audience appeal than “The Fate of the Furious” – an R-rated, more limited genre target. The potency of the brand connection to the movie franchise itself and its audience are also a key component to a tie-in’s success.

“A brand associating with any other entity automatically alienates some people, so co-branding needs to be done carefully. In short, viewers want to see that the connection between the brand and movie/characters makes some sense,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix.

Across the full gen pop sample, all four franchises effectively garnered high Attention for their tie-in brands, with the Visuals and Characters dominating as the Single Best Thing about each ad.

“The level of attention alone that such franchises bring to a brand can often be enough to lead to sales success, as attention brings awareness, which can lead to consideration if the classic sales funnel is to be believed. All brands benefitted from above average Attention compared to automotive norms. In our attention-distracted era, where brands struggle to get viewers to pay attention to anything, this is no small feat,” added Daboll.

However, across all viewers, Likeability was less guaranteed than Attention. Analysis revealed only “Cars 3” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” had above category-norm likeability scores. The brands leveraged the appeal of the Cars cartoon characters and the new Baby Groot character to drive Likeability.

The overall best performance across all viewers was enjoyed by Autotrader’s “Cars 3” tie-in, titled “Every Car Has a Personality.” The success of the tie-in for Autotrader was driven by consistently strong results on all performance measures regardless of the audience, posting above norm Relevance and Desire in addition to Breakthrough (Attention and Likeability).

“The ad plays into the emotional connection many of us have with our cars,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix.

Behind Autotrader, Ford delivered some excellent Breakthrough with their tie-in to the very popular and likeable character Baby Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” While highly entertaining, this tie-in might not have worked as hard for the Ford EcoSport brand as the “Cars 3” tie-in, with Baby Groot taking center stage for some viewers, who thought the spot was missing car-specific information.

On the surface, Dodge appeared to have some trouble, with just one ad beating category norms. Some brands, however, do not seek to capture all audiences. The Dodge muscle car brands boast a very strong and loyal base, which happens to overlap quite nicely with fans of the Fast and Furious franchise and as a result, Dodge enjoyed much stronger resonance among male viewers.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” presented a unique opportunity that Nissan simply could not pass up. “Once the connection was made in the viewer’s mind between Rogue One and the Nissan Rogue, anytime the movie was mentioned (and it was all over the airwaves), that connection was strengthened, ensuring strong awareness,” noted Daboll.

Below are the 13 ads from the analysis, ordered from highest to lowest Ace Score:

Ad Performance (Ace Score) by Ad – Gen Pop Audience

  Blockbuster Franchise   Brand   Ad   Ace Score Cars 3   Autotrader   Every Car Has a Personality   625 The Fate of the Furious   Dodge   Rally Cry :30   615 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2   Ford  

Be the Guardian of Your Galaxy With the Ford EcoSport

  613 Rogue One   Nissan   Any Galaxy   610 The Fate of the Furious   Dodge   Muscle Heaven | The Fate of the Furious   589 Rogue One   Nissan   Any Galaxy :60   575 Rogue One   Nissan   Star Wars   571 Rogue One   Nissan   By Storm   563 The Fate of the Furious   Dodge   Shepherds | Brotherhood of Muscle   551 Rogue One   Nissan   Perform Better   550 Rogue One   Nissan   Best Scale   546 The Fate of the Furious   Dodge   Rally Cry | Brotherhood of Muscle   527 The Fate of the Furious   Dodge   Monsters | Brotherhood of Muscle   520

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix® is the standard in television and digital video analytics, dedicated to measuring the impact of video ad creative. We provide data and insight to enable marketers and creative teams to produce more impactful work, test and adjust creative executions in real-time, and understand what creative drivers impact their brand KPI's. The Company is privately held and is backed by leading venture capital firms and industry leaders including Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures, Leapfrog Ventures and WPP.

Follow Ace Metrix on Twitter for sustained insight: @Ace_Metrix.

Note: Ace Metrix®, the Ace Metrix logo design, Ace Score®, Ace Metrix LIVE® and Creative Lifecycle Management® are registered trademarks of Ace Metrix. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Ace MetrixSammi Scharninghausen, 650-468-7603sscharninghausen@acemetrix.com